This page provides comprehensive uninstallation procedures for Miniconda for all operating systems, including options for silent removal and cleanup of associated configuration files, caches, and user data.
The uninstall procedure might leave behind certain artifacts, such as desktop shortcuts or supplementary files, that must be deleted manually after uninstalling. This is a known issue.
Follow the uninstall procedure below for your operating system:
Windows
macOS/Linux
Control Panel uninstall
Silent CLI uninstall
(Optional) If you have created any environments outside your miniconda3 directory, Anaconda recommends manually deleting them to increase available disc space on your computer. This step must be performed before uninstalling Miniconda.
Uninstall environments outside the miniconda3 directory
Open Anaconda Prompt.
View a list of all your environments by running the following command:
conda info --envs
If you have any environments in a directory other than miniconda3, you will need to uninstall the directory that contains the environments. Uninstalling the directory with the following command deletes the environments’ contents and them from your user files.
Uninstall the directory by running the following command:
If you have any environments with packages installed from the conda-pypi channel, delete them before beginning the uninstall:
How do I know if I have packages installed from the conda-pypi channel?
You can check the packages installed in an environment by activating the environment and running conda list:
conda activate <ENV_NAME>conda list
If you see conda-pypi in the Channel column, that environment needs to be deleted before uninstalling.
conda remove --name <ENV_NAME> --all
Search for “Control Panel” in the taskbar search and select the Control Panel app.
Click Uninstall a program under Programs.
Select Anaconda from the list of programs.
Click Uninstall.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the uninstallation process.
Verify your uninstall was successful by searching for “Anaconda Prompt” in the taskbar search. The program should no longer appear.
(Optional) If you have created any environments outside your miniconda3 directory, Anaconda recommends manually deleting them to increase available disc space on your computer. This step must be performed before uninstalling Miniconda.
Uninstall environments outside the miniconda3 directory
Open Anaconda Prompt.
View a list of all your environments by running the following command:
conda info --envs
If you have any environments in a directory other than miniconda3, you will need to uninstall the directory that contains the environments. Uninstalling the directory with the following command deletes the environments’ contents and them from your user files.
Uninstall the directory by running the following command:
As of Miniconda v24.11.1, you can also use additional arguments to remove other files from your system.
Optional uninstall arguments
These arguments are not recommended if you have multiple conda installations.
Argument
Values
Description
/RemoveCaches=
0
1
Removes caches (such as package and index caches, among others).
/RemoveConfigFiles=
none
user
system
all
Removes configuration files such as .condarc files. user removes the files inside the current user’s home directory and system removes files outside of that directory.
/RemoveUserData=
0
1
Removes user data, such as the %USERPROFILE%\.conda directory.
As of Miniconda v24.11.1, you can also use additional arguments to remove other files from your system.
Optional uninstall arguments
These arguments are not recommended if you have multiple conda installations.
Argument
Values
Description
/RemoveCaches=
0
1
Removes caches (such as package and index caches, among others).
/RemoveConfigFiles=
none
user
system
all
Removes configuration files such as .condarc files. user removes the files inside the current user’s home directory and system removes files outside of that directory.
/RemoveUserData=
0
1
Removes user data, such as such as the ${env:USERPROFILE}/.conda directory.
(Optional) Verify your uninstall was successful by searching for “Anaconda Prompt” in the taskbar search. The program should no longer appear.
Open a new terminal application window.
(Optional) If you have created any environments outside your miniconda3 directory, Anaconda recommends manually deleting them to increase available disc space on your computer. This step must be performed before uninstalling Miniconda.
Uninstall environments outside the miniconda3 directory
View a list of all your environments by running the following command:
conda info --envs
If you have any environments in a directory other than miniconda3, you need to uninstall the directory that contains the environments. Uninstalling the directory with the following command deletes the environments’ contents and them from your user files.
Uninstall the directory by running the following command:
If you have any environments with packages installed from the conda-pypi channel, delete them before beginning the uninstall:
How do I know if I have packages installed from the conda-pypi channel?
You can check the packages installed in an environment by activating the environment and running conda list:
conda activate <ENV_NAME>conda list
If you see conda-pypi in the Channel column, that environment needs to be deleted before uninstalling.
conda remove --name <ENV_NAME> --all
Use the following table to determine the uninstall path that’s right for you:
Uninstall path
Use case
Basic
You want a simple uninstall and you don’t care if a few files are left behind.
System
You want a simple uninstall, but your install is in a system folder (like /usr/ or /opt/). This happens when you use the macOS .pkg installer, for instance.
Not sure where your install is? Run conda info --base.
Advanced
You want more control over your uninstall, like choosing to remove config files or user data.
Manual
You don’t have an uninstall.sh script to use because you installed with an installer older than Miniconda version 24.11.1.
Basic uninstall
System uninstall
Advanced uninstall
Manual uninstall
Deactivate your (base) environment by running the following command:
conda deactivate
You should no longer see (base) in your terminal prompt.
Run the uninstall script:
~/miniconda3/uninstall.sh
Deactivate your (base) environment by running the following command:
conda deactivate
You should no longer see (base) in your terminal prompt.
Run the uninstall script with admin privileges:
sudo -E /opt/miniconda3/uninstall.sh
Deactivate your (base) environment by running the following command:
conda deactivate
You should no longer see (base) in your terminal prompt.
Run the uninstall script with additional arguments to remove files:
Including additional uninstall arguments is optional. These arguments remove additional files from your system.If any files outside the installation directory are symlinks, it’s possible that only the link will be removed, not the underlying files, meaning you’ll need to find and delete them manually.These arguments are not recommended if you have multiple conda installations.
Optional uninstall arguments
Argument
Values
Description
--remove-caches
Removes caches (such as package and index caches, among others).
--remove-config-files
user
system
all
Removes configuration files such as .condarc files. user removes the files inside the current user’s home directory and system removes all files outside of that directory.
--remove-user-data
Removes user data, such as the ~/.conda directory.
~/miniconda3/uninstall.sh --remove-caches --remove-config-files user --remove-user-data
(Optional) Remove any conda initialization scripts from all your terminal shell profiles by running the following command:
conda activateconda init --reverse --all
What are conda initialization scripts?
Initialization scripts execute commands that configure your shell to automatically recognize conda commands.For a technical explanation of initialization, see Conda initialization in the official conda documentation.To see a list of shells where conda can be initialized, see conda init in the official conda documentation.
Remove your entire miniconda3 directory with rm -rf. Depending on your installation, this directory will be in your root folder or in your opt folder.
Example commands for deleting your miniconda3 folder
# Run only one of the following commands, depending on your directory locationrm -rf miniconda3rm -rf ~/miniconda3sudo rm -rf /opt/miniconda3
(Optional) Remove the hidden .condarc file and .conda and .continuum directories from your home directory by running the following command:
Keep your .condarc file if you have custom configurations for conda and plan to reinstall.
rm -rf ~/.condarc ~/.conda ~/.continuum
(Optional) Verify your uninstall by closing and reopening your terminal window and making sure that (base) does not reappear in your terminal prompt.
